SWAT in the context of "Training exercise"

The militarization of police (paramilitarization of police in some media) is the use of military equipment and tactics by law enforcement officers. This includes the use of armored personnel carriers (APCs), assault rifles, submachine guns, flashbang grenades, sniper rifles, and SWAT (special weapons and tactics) teams. The militarization of law enforcement is also associated with intelligence agency–style information gathering aimed at the public and political activists and with a more aggressive style of law enforcement. Criminal justice professor Peter Kraska has defined militarization of police as "the process whereby civilian police increasingly draw from, and pattern themselves around, the tenets of militarism and the military model".

Observers have noted the militarizing of the policing of protests. Since the 1970s, riot police have fired at protesters using guns with rubber bullets or plastic bullets. Tear gas, which was developed by the United States Army for riot control in 1919, is still widely used against protesters. The use of tear gas in warfare is prohibited by various international treaties that most states have signed; however, its law enforcement or military use for domestic or non-combat situations is permitted.

The Spezialeinsatzkommando (SEK, "Special Task Force") are police tactical units of each of the 16 German state police forces that specialize in a quick response with SWAT unit tactics to emergencies. Along with the Mobiles Einsatzkommando (MEK), Personenschutzkommando (bodyguards), and the Verhandlungsgruppe (negotiation teams in some states), they are part of the police Spezialeinheiten (special operations units) of each state force.

Mainly unrecognized by the media and public, the main missions of SEK units include providing paramilitary operations in urban areas, apprehension of armed and dangerous criminals, high-risk law enforcement situations, hostage rescue crisis management, serving of high-risk arrest warrants, supporting counterterrorism activities, and raids, as well as other scenarios like providing personal security details for VIPs or witnesses. Since the 1970s, each SEK has handled several thousand deployments. The front-runner is the SEK of the Berlin Police with up to 500 deployments a year, an average of 1.4 deployments a day.

The Batsuit (or Bat-Suit) is a fictional tactical costume worn by the fictional superhero Batman, which appears in comics published by the American company DC Comics, and related media. The suit has been depicted in various artistic iterations, and the stories themselves have described Batman as modifying the details of his costume from time to time typically using military and SWAT standards materials and technology that evolved into an advanced combat suit. However, it usually consists of a gray body suit, the chest emblazoned with a stylized black bat either with or without a yellow ellipse around it, and blue-black accessories: a wide scalloped cape, gloves with a series of fin-like projections, trunks, boots, and a close-fitting cowl (covering the upper half of his face) with ear-like projections to suggest a bat's head; and a yellow utility belt containing a variety of gadgets.

The General Security and Central Security Forces (Arabic: قوات الأمن العام و الأمن المركزي, romanized: Quwwāt al-Amn al- Amm wa Quwwāt al-Amn al-Markazī, often shortened to Arabic: الأمن المركزي, romanized: Al-Amn al-Markazī) is an Egyptian paramilitary force which is responsible for assisting the Egyptian National Police (ENP) for the security of governmental fixed sites, foreign embassies & missions, riots and crowd control, publicly crowded events, high risk arrests, disaster response and SWAT operations. They are a vital arm of Egypt's National Security apparatus.

Interstate 580 (I-580) is an approximately 76-mile-long (122 km) east–west auxiliary Interstate Highway in Northern California. The heavily traveled spur route of I-80 runs from US Route 101 (US 101) in San Rafael in the San Francisco Bay Area to I-5 at a point outside the southern city limits of Tracy in the Central Valley. I-580 forms a concurrency with I-80 between Albany and Oakland, the latter of which is the location of the MacArthur Maze interchange immediately east of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. I-580 provides a connection from the Bay Area to the southern San Joaquin Valley and Southern California via I-5, as I-5 bypasses the Bay Area to the east.

A portion of I-580 is called the MacArthur Freeway, after General Douglas MacArthur. Other portions are named the John T. Knox Freeway (after a former speaker pro tempore of the California State Assembly), the Eastshore Freeway (after its location on San Francisco Bay), the Arthur H. Breed Jr. Freeway (after a former California State assemblyperson and senator—the stretch itself lying between the cities of Castro Valley and Dublin), the William Elton "Brownie" Brown Freeway (after a Tracy resident instrumental in determining the route of I-5 through the San Joaquin Valley), the Sgt. Daniel Sakai Memorial Highway (after the Castro Valley resident and Oakland SWAT officer killed in the 2009 shootings of Oakland police officers), and the John P. Miller Memorial Highway (after the Lodi resident and California Highway Patrol officer killed while chasing down a DUI driver).

FBI Special Weapons and Tactics (FBI SWAT) Teams are specialized part-time SWAT teams of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI maintains SWAT teams at each of its 55 field offices throughout the United States. Each team is composed of a varying number of certified SWAT operators, dependent on office size and funding.

In 2022, SWAT teams had approximately 1,600 callouts.

A ballistic shield, also called a tactical shield or bulletproof shield, is a protection device deployed by police, paramilitaries, and armed forces that are designed to stop or deflect bullets and other projectiles fired at their carrier. Ballistic shields also protect from less serious threats such as thrown items. Ballistic shields are similar to riot shields, but offer greater protection and are typically used by special units or in situations where riot shields would not offer adequate protection.

A police armored vehicle, also referred to as a police rescue vehicle, armored rescue vehicle, tactical police vehicle, or SWAT vehicle, is a non-military armored vehicle used by police, primarily police tactical units and riot police, to respond to incidents that necessitate their use. They are most often in configurations similar to military light utility vehicles, infantry mobility vehicles, or armoured personnel carriers. They are generally designed to have armor that can sufficiently block high-caliber rounds, space to carry the unit's equipment, and sufficient passenger seating; some also allow for additional personnel to hang onto the side of the vehicle in transit.

The M84 is a stun grenade ("flashbang") used by the United States Armed Forces and SWAT teams throughout the United States.